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User blog:Pinkguy the b0ss/Thoughts on the Nintendo Entertainment System
Hey there, this post is going to be fairly different from the usual stuff I post - consider it a sort of "review," even though I'm not really "reviewing" a console per se. I'm just giving an impression on the NES, the community surrounding it, and most importantly, its games. The post will be divided into these categories. Let's get started. Just in case you've been living under a rock your whole life, the Nintendo Entertainment System was quite the game changer (fuck... I'm making puns already) back when it was released in 1985 here in North America. The video game market of the time was slowing down and stagnating from the sheer amount of consoles and games coming out, many of which sucked a big one. It got so bad that the industry experienced its most significant crash in history - the infamous Gaming Crash of 1983. Companies lost millions of dollars from the crash, game and console prices hit rock bottom, and video games were then seen as nothing but a passing fad. The existence of video games almost ceased. Then, in 1985 - using some clever marketing and an accessory named Rob the Robot - Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System, a redesign of their Japanese Famicom console for the North American market. The console sold like crazy, proving that video games were still financially viable, effectively allowing the industry to recover from the crash. But how did they do this, besides the aforementioned marketing? Well, one thing to know is that a major contributing factor to the crash was a lack of publisher control. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the company which sold a console had no measures for ensuring which games got approved for publication on a console, providing no sort of control. This meant that literally anyone could make a game for a console and sell it for a quick buck. The quality of the game didn't matter, instead the quantity did. The companies basically threw whatever shit at the wall they could to see what stuck, and if it didn't, they could always make hundreds more of these titles as they weren't all that expensive to develop. Unsurprisingly, this let to a flooded, oversaturated market, and eventually spelled its temporary downfall. Nintendo ditched this and instead famously employed one of the first quality control systems : the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality. They also put strict liscensing policies into place and gave the NES a special lock-out chip. It (known as the "10NES" chip) didn't allow unliscensed games to run on the console. A few jackasses reverse-engineered the technology, and tons of unlisenced games were made as a result, but this didn't lead to another crash as the unliscensed games were almost never sold in stores. This led to the NES taking over the video game market for a good 5-6 years, and didn't see any worthy competition. That is, until the rise of 16-bit consoles in the late 1980s, which included the console that would take over the NES in market share - none other than the Sega Genesis, which was released in 1989. Nintendo responded with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. A console war resulted, with Nintendo eventually coming out on top once again. Even though the focus of the gaming world was on the famous clash of the two 16-bit titans, the Nintendo Entertainment System was still quietly supported in the background, with the improved NES-101 model launching (which many have nicknamed the "Toploader" as it loads games on the top like an SNES). The console lived an incredibly long life, and didn't die until 1995 with the last first-party title - Wario's Woods. Keep in mind, this is the same year that Donkey Kong Country 2 and Yoshi's Island launched on Super Nintendo, the same year that Nintendo showed off the Nintendo 64 in early development, and the same year that the Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn launched, so the NES actually lived well into the 16-bit era and even into the start of the 3D era. For a game console, that's pretty impressive. As the years have passed, the NES became something of a legend. NES games were re-released on Virtual Console, the console became one of the most popular to emulate, a massive homebrew scene for the system emerged, and the NES Classic Edition - a small version of the NES which supported HDMI and included 30 or so games built-in - was released in 2017 and sold very well. The system is looked back at with utmost fondness by people who grew up with it, and is still seen as one of (if not the) most important consoles in gaming history. So with that all out of the way, let's actually make this post live up to its title - my thoughts on the NES. Let's not waste any more time and discuss the various things about it. Do I think it is designed well in comparison to the SNES, N64, Gamecube, and Wii, which were all masterful in their designs already? What do I think of the following surrounding the console? But, most importantly, do the games (at least the ones I've played so far) hold up and remain good to this day? Well get ready, because this post is gonna be a long one. Let's go. Design Let's start off with the thing that strikes you first - the console's physical appearance and design. In short, I think the Nintendo Entertainment System's physical design is on par with its many successors. I like more angular and boxy designs for a console (like the SNES, Gamecube, and PS2, although more curved ones don't look bad, like the N64), and the NES is just that. In addition to this, the perfect size and color scheme which just screams "1980s" make this console look very cool. I honestly think that the NES is one of the best-looking consoles ever made. The hardware, unfortunately, is not as solid. Many original NES consoles are known to have the "blinking light of death" issue. It's caused by a design flaw in the console's cartridge slot - the pin connectors which read the cartridges bend over time from the act of inserting and pulling out games from the console. This leads to a significantly less consistent functionality than the SNES, N64, and even the NES-101 model, which function better due to their toploading cartridge slots. Shockingly, this hasn't been much of an issue with my NES. Sure, it does get that issue from time to time, but for the most part the console turns on just fine the first time. Ok, one thing I need to be honest about : the controller. I think that it works great. The buttons and D-pad are responsive and work well, and the controller doesn't feel cheap or anything. The thing that I don't care for too much, on the other hand, is the form factor. It's not terrible or anything, but the rigid corners of the controllers can get a little uncomfortable after a while. The buttons can also hurt to hold down, because of their deep concave style. The SNES also had a concave Y-button you often held down, but it wasn't extremely deep to the point it felt like it was digging into your thumb. The NES controller, while good overall, isn't as good as the masterful SNES, Gamecube, Genesis, and Playstation controllers. Hell, I even prefer the N64 controller to a lesser extent (seriously). That's not to say the NES controller is bad, just not my favorite. It's still way better than the XBOX One controller, that's for sure. I will tell you though, the NES controller is far better than the Wiimote and XBOX controllers (360 and One specifically), because at least it works consistently. This is in stark contrast to the Wiimote, which is a bit inaccurate and inconsistent in its functionality, and the XBOX controllers, which have an abyssmal battery life (which ruins the wireless, which actually works decently), and can never seem to stay connected when plugged in with their charging cables. It's pretty embarrassing when a controller from a 30+ year old console can be better than the controller of a supposedly cutting-edge system, but I digress. Community Oh boy, now this is some shit. Now, before I begin this section, know that I acknowledge the community surrounding the NES is made up of many great people. The homebrew and romhack scene is incredible, as well as the fact that these people are giving attention to a console that deserves it. Unfortunately, though, there is a sizeable portion of the NES fanbase which is very closed-minded and blantantly affected by deep nostalgia bias. For example, look at the comments of the video "Bad Game Design - NES Games" (which was a video of a guy expressing his opinion on the quality of the games), and you will see almost nothing but pissed off nostalgiatards explaining why the video is factually wrong and utter garbage just for giving an alternate opinion to theirs. This isn't exclusive to this video's comments, no, it's everywhere on the internet. Another great example of this would be in the Mega Man fanbase. Instead of wanting the developers to push the series to the next generation, they would rather have them stick to the same old NES aesthetic and game design for every entry. Newsflash - just because you grew up with something and remember it fondly, doesn't mean that it's instantly good, or better than what later consoles had to offer. The same goes for pretty much every system out there, as they also have their fair share of nostalgiatards. However, to me it just seems that the NES has the greatest number of this kind of people. Yes, even more than the Genesis, SNES, PS1, or N64, which also have a big number of overly-nostalgic fans. Games If I'm to put it bluntly - most of these games absolutely pale in comparison to the titles released on the SNES, N64, Gamecube, Genesis, PS1, and PS2. To be honest, some of them are the worst games I've ever played. Of course, there are several huge exceptions to this. I'll get through every single one I've played so far. Super Mario Bros. Let's start this off positive. Super Mario Bros. is still one of my favorite 2D Mario games. In fact, it ranks third only to Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3 in terms of 2D Mario. It's also one of my favorite games in general. While SMB3, SMW, DKC1 and DKC2, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles may be better games, Super Mario Bros. holds up very well despite some primitive design elements, like limited continues and fairly basic levels. Super Mario Bros. 2 This is a good game that can be quite fun. However, the difficulty is a bit too punishing for my tastes, as there are again limited continues, a lack of a sufficient number of 1-ups and oppurtunities to heal, and on top off all that, the game just feels kind of slow-paced and isn't quite as fun as the other 2D Mario games. This game is a good one, but nothing more. Super Mario Bros. 3 This game is absolutely incredible. Without a doubt, it's the best game on the Nintendo Entertainment System by far. The game is very fair with its inclusion of unlimited continues and numerous opportunities for the player to earn lives, the level of challenge is just right, the controls are near-perfect, the levels are extremely creative and varied, the technical achievement is a marvel for the NES, the graphics are some of the best the NES has to offer, the soundtrack is amazing, and most importantly, it's a blast to play. It's definitely one of the best 2D sidescrollers ever made. While I like SMW and Sonic 3&K more, SMB3 ranks up with those titles and is one of the best games I've ever played. Duck Hunt While it can get monotonous and boring after a while, Duck Hunt is still a good arcade-style shooter that can be fun to play. It gets gradually more challenging as it goes on, with the ducks moving faster and requiring more ducks shot to progress. It's basic, but fun. Tetris A fairly fun puzzle game. The NES version still holds up well, maybe besides the graphics, but it was the NES after all (more on that later). Overall, this is one of the better NES games. 1943 : The Battle of Midway Another decent acrade game. It's a top-down shooter themed to World War II, and it can be fun to play. It's very hard, but that's to be expected from these old arcade shoot-em-ups. It controls decent, so the difficulty isn't fake, but I don't think it's fun for any longer than 10-20 minutes. That's how I feel about basically every arcade game, so 1943 isn't too out of the ordinary. Pac-Man A decent version of the game, but it doesn't control very well because the D-pad sucks for this kind of game. What you want is an arcade stick, like on the Pac-Man Plug and Play that I own, which is my preferred method of playing this arcade classic. Overall, NES Pac Man just isn't very fun nowadays, at least with the original controller. Top Gun This is some bottom-of-the-barrel trash. It was made by Konami, but even that can't save it (talking about NES-era Konami here, I'm aware of how shitty they are nowadays... maybe that will be a future subject of one of my posts). It controls terribly, becomes punishingly difficult because of it, and is one of the ugliest games I have ever seen. It's just no fun to play today. Top Gun : The Second Mission This one is even more unplayable than the first game. Again, bad controls and ugly graphics make this title a chore to play nowadays and make me reccommend that you steer clear of it. Nintendo World Cup I mean, it's a sports game. I have no investment when it comes to these at all. Nintendo World Cup is just your average, run-of-the-mill 8-bit soccer game. Because of aforementioned lack of passion for sports games, I don't really care for this one. Ghostbusters Garbage. That's all. It's a movie tie-in like Top Gun, but still piss-poor. The difficulty is brutal, the controls suck, the graphics hardly exist, and, worst of all, it's just monotonous and very boring. Jaws Better than Ghostbusters and Top Gun, but not by much. This game is very boring and hasn't aged well at all. I really don't have much to say as just thinking about this game makes me.... tired. Dig Dug II Overall, this is a decent update on the Dig Dug formula. It suffers from the arcade syndrome of only being fun for a certain amount of time, so I don't have much to say. I'd say it's passable. NARC An arcade game, but this one isn't even decent. It's bad. Unfortunately, this is in a boring way. The graphics are ok for NES, but the gameplay is boring, the difficulty is unforgiving (even for arcade game standards), and the controls aren't very refined. Robocop Another bad game, and again in a boring sense. The controls feel clunky, which is not good for a beat-em-up. The graphics are also unappealing, and, for some reason I can't explain, my copy of the game occasionally starts up with vertical lines across the screen, making the game unplayable, but this only happens on composite video and nof RF..... and only half of the time? I honestly don't know what the issue here is. Monster Party Here it is - what I believe to be one of the absolute worst games I've ever experienced. The controls are terrible, the soundtrack is earrape, the graphics are revolting, the difficulty is punishing to the point that the first level is practically impossible, and the way to progress is unclear. I hate this game a lot, but that doesn't mean that it is totally worthless. The only value it has is some ironic meme points due to it being the subject of a JonTron video. Contra While fun and controlling well, this game is ludicrously difficult, partly due to limited continues and the fact that you only start with three lives. Sure, you can use the famous Konami code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start) to begin with 30 lives, but that doesn't help very much, surprisingly. The difficulty isn't a complete turnoff as I like a good challenge, but Contra doesn't really hold my interest for long. Donkey Kong It's probably the best console port of Donkey Kong that there was in the 1980s. In the face of so many other versions for every system known to humanity, the NES version laughs. Now, Donkey Kong itself is an arcade title, so the arcade syndrome applies here. Overall, not bad, but not amazing either. Well, that's all the NES games I've played so far. A few were some of the greatest games ever made, some were good but not great, some I'm more indifferent about, and some suck hairy gorilla balls. Overall, the NES library, while full of good games for the time of the console's lifespan, many haven't aged well and are an outright chore to play today. I can't say that the NES has left much of an impression on me as a whole. Its successors were a tremendous improvement over it, due to better hardware and software. By then, developers mastered the art of game design, and made games much better than the junk put out in the 1980s. The huge number of garbage titles from back then are due to developers still learning the ropes, I get that, but this doesn't excuse how poorly many of these games have aged. Honestly, I do not recommend buying an original NES console, unless you grew up with it and want it back, if you're a collector, or if you're insanely curious. Otherwise, the console can get incredibly expensive today due to hardware issues, and since many of the games are very poor in quality, making it not worth it. If you want to play NES games, I recommend Virtual Console or some other kind of emulation. Or maybe the NES Classic Edition. Well, assuming you can even get your hands on one. Aesthetics I'm gonna keep this short. In general, the NES does not have good graphics. I hate the limited color palette, which consists of many greens, browns, blacks, grays, and whites mixed together in an ugly fashion. Some games do look really nice, like Super Mario Bros. 3 or Kirby's Adventure, but still, games like this are a rarity. The NES soundfront, on the other hand, is ok enough. While I don't really like 8-bit chiptunes all that much and prefer the genre-variety of the MIDI arrangements on the SNES, N64, and Gamecube, the heavy metal-esque synthesized sound on the Genesis, and the CD audio files of the PS1, PS2, and Wii, the NES usually provides some good stuff. The Mario games in particular have good soundtracks, if a bit repetitive, and other games like Mega Man 2 (for example) have some catchy themes I can recognize, even having never played a Mega Man game at all. Conclusion In conclusion, the NES is a great console, but not one that will knock your socks off. Due to the high price, I don't really recommend buying an NES if you only want to play the games. The poor quality of many titles is also a slight turnoff. However, if you're a collector, I'd say you're pretty much required to own this system, no matter if it's the original model or the toploader. It's still a great console and worth checking out. Just stick to the games that are known to be good, and you'll be fine. So there you go, my take on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I might do more of these on the other consoles I own, just because I'm pleased with how this post turned out. Just not now, as this did take a while to do. I might just go back to normal reviews for a while or do a long-overdue Fuck this Shit entry (maybe). In any event, see you guys later. Category:Blog posts